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Harry Belafonte

Harry Belafonte, American folk singer, actor, producer, and activist for civil rights and humanitarian causes. He was born Harold George Belafonte in the Harlem section of New York City. He studied acting in the late 1940s at the Dramatic Workshop of the New School for Social Research and later received a Tony Award for his appearance in John Murray Anderson's Almanac (1953). Belafonte first gained attention as a singer during an extended engagement at Broadway's Royal Roost nightclub, where he began specializing in the music of the West Indies. His first great success was the 1956 album Calypso, which included "Banana Boat Song," also known as "Day-O," his most famous recording. "Banana Boat Song," along with such songs as "Matilda" and "Brown Skin Girl," sparked a surge of interest in calypso music. Belafonte's carefree folk songs appealed to a broad cross section of the American public. He was one of the first pop music artists to achieve such wide appeal. His other albums include the popular Belafonte At Carnegie Hall (1959) and Belafonte Returns to Carnegie Hall (1960), which featured the song "There's a Hole in My Bucket," performed with the folk, jazz, and blues singer Odetta. Belafonte acted in several motion pictures, including Island in the... Next

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